Baseball moves to 9-0 after doubleheader sweep

WESTWEGO – The Loyola Wolf Pack stayed undefeated with two wins over Thomas University on Friday, moving their record to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in Southern States Athletic Conference play. The Pack started the day with a 12-7 win in the first game before a 5-2 victory in the series finale. 
 

Loyola will take a quick break from conference play on Tuesday, hosting Bryant & Stratton College at Segnette Field at 3 p.m. It'll return to league play at home on Friday and Saturday against Point University. 
 

Game 1: (RV) Loyola 12, Thomas 7

After Thomas took a 1-0 lead in the second, the Wolf Pack answered with five runs in the bottom half of the frame. Jaxon Buratt and Landon Manson started the inning with back-to-back singles, then Aaron Davis doubled down the left-field line to tie the game, 1-1. A groundout off the bat of Jake Mills made it 2-1, and a Brandon Mooney single up the middle pushed the score to 3-1. A single by Jed Cambre and an error on the Thomas centerfielder on the same play allowed Mooney to come around and score, and the final run scored on a double steal play with Cambre running home extending the advantage to 5-1. 
 

After the Night Hawks scored a few runs to cut it to a one-run game, 5-4, the Wolf Pack blew the game open with seven runs in the fifth. Colin Zeringue started the frame with a double, and a squeeze bunt play off the bat of Buratt brought home the first run. A bases-loaded walk for pinch-hitter Marcus Steen made it a 7-4 lead, and Mills, Mooney and Cambre picked up RBI during consecutive at-bats, 10-4. Mills eventually came home on a wild pitch and Zeringue came up to the plate and delivered an RBI single to make the score 12-4. 
 

Frank Fernandez earned his second win of the season in relief, as he worked three innings with three strikeouts while allowing just two hits. 
 

Game 2: (RV) Loyola 5, Thomas 2

The second game of the day started a little slow for the Wolf Pack, as they only had two hits through five innings. In the bottom of the sixth trailing 2-0, Landon Trosclair belted a two-out grand slam to give Loyola a 4-2 lead. Cambre and Buratt got on base via an error and Steen singled to set up the four-run blast, then Davis kept things going with a walk during the next at-bat. He would steal second and reach third on an error by the catcher who tried to throw him out. Davis made it a 5-2 lead when Mills brought him home on a single. 
 

After the Night Hawks scored their two runs in the third, Payton Cooper entered to pitch in the fourth and shut them down for the next 4.2 innings to pick up his first win of the season. He struck out seven throughout his outing while not allowing a hit. Nathan Monceaux closed the door in the final 1.1, recording a pair of strikeouts to earn the save. 
 

Pack Facts

• Loyola continued its best start to a season in program history, improving to 9-0 this year with the series sweep. 

• Head coach Jeremy Kennedy collected his 50th Southern States Athletic Conference win in Game 1. 

• Landon Trosclair hit the 11th home run of his Wolf Pack career to give the Pack the lead for good in Game 2. It was also his second grand slam. 

• Loyola's 13 hits and 12 runs in Game 1 were both season highs for the team. 

• All nine Wolf Pack starters recorded at least one hit in the first game of the day, with Jed Cambre, Collin Zeringue, Jaxon Buratt, and Aaron Davis each having two hits. 

• In Game 2, all nine starters reached base safely at least once. 

• Jake Mills continued his team-best hitting streak with a hit in each game. 

• Buratt, Davis, and Mills each had five hits across the three games of the series to lead the team. 

• Payton Cooper had his longest outing of the season in his first pitching win at Loyola. In 4.2 innings, Cooper struck out seven batters with no hits or runs allowed. 

• Frank Fernandez, who has not allowed a run in 8.1 innings across four relief appearances this season, got his second win of the year.